Tube bending is the umbrella term for metal forming processes used to permanently form pipes or tubing. One must differentiate between form-bound and free form-bending procedures, as well as between heat supported and cold forming procedures.

Processes:

Press bending:

Press bending is probably the first bending process used on cold pipes and tubing

Rotary draw bending:

Full tooling for rotary draw bending

Rotary draw bending (RDB) is a precise technology, since it bends using tooling or "die sets" which have a constant center line radius (CLR), alternatively indicated as mean bending radius (Rm).

Roll bending:

Main article: Roll bending

During the roll bending process the pipe, extrusion, or solid is passed through a series of rollers (typically three) that apply pressure to the pipe gradually changing the bend radius in the pipe.